Gilbert Ibarra, wearing a grey T-shirt with a big eagle on top, arrived at a small park in Joshua Tree Town on Monday morning thinking about his lost friend at the end of the 1975 Vietnam War.
Ibarra, a former Marine, had his unit participated in the Mayaguez incident, causing his two partners to remain on an island near the coast of Cambodia, where they could be killed by Khmer Rouge.
“They are 19 years old,” said Ibara, whose eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses on this warm Memorial Day morning. “I remember my partner here. That's the part I hold.”
Ibarra is about 75 people who gathered on Monday at the Joshua Tree Memorial Park in a small cemetery in the high desert town for an hour of anniversary service. Neighbors from nearby Yucca Valley neighbors Debbie and Ron Wagoner sat next to him.
“We had a busy weekend, but we thought we should prepare for it today,” Debbie said. “We don’t want to forget the people who give their money for our freedom.”
Memorial Day events at Joshua Tree Memorial Park include bagpipers, speakers, color schemes and dove releases.
(Deborah Netburn/Los Angeles Times)
For many Americans, Memorial Day marks the first day of summer – the beginning of beach day and backyard barbecue. But in Southern California and across the country, including at the Los Angeles National Cemetery near UCLA, people gather to commemorate men and women serving the country.
“We are all here and witness the silence cost of war,” Russell Martin, the navy’s pastor and commander, quoted during the Joshua Tree’s Memorial Day event. “This day is not just a day in the calendar. It's a divine pause to remember those who die for the idea that freedom is worth defending.”
Many participants in the Joshua Tree Memorial Park event are located about 20 miles west of the Marines’ Air Ground Combat Center. Bob Hoyt, wearing a leather driver's hat and a yellow suspender that looked like a tape measure, served in the Navy from 1966 to 1970. He wandered in the white folding chair and handed out his own patriotic refrigerator magnets.
“I promoted myself to the captain, and now I call myself Captain America,” he said. “The more I love this country I am older, and I do my best to promote that love.”
In the front row, Anne Lear served in Afghanistan for a year and was recently appointed captain of the local chapter of the Foreign War Veterans, sitting with her friend Debbie Johnson on the captain of the local chapter of the American Veterans Association. Both organizations are designed to help veterans provide everything they may need, from helping people in their homes to paying ambulances to transport former service members to hospitals.
“You have some serious female power here,” Johnson said.
The service features bagpipe music, color protection and laying of wreaths, ending about an hour later, releasing twelve white doves from the woven basket.
The birds flew like a group of people, hovering the shadowed canopy and moderate temporary podiums, and the American flag on the half-mast broke wildly in the wind.
North Koreans and Vietnam veterans paid tribute to the opening lawsuit at the annual Memorial Day ceremony held in Los Angeles National Cemetery.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
